


Comforting Hugs

by Applesaday



Series: Countless Lifetimes [11]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 07:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3641199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesaday/pseuds/Applesaday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a while, Regina stopped trying to fight or ignore how good Emma's hugs made her feel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comforting Hugs

**Author's Note:**

> More drabbles for everyone!
> 
> A thousand apologies for the lack of updates, but life has a way of brutalizing my self-esteem, which then leads to a lack of writing, but I digress! You're here to read about the wonderfully amazing fictional ladies, not my whining issues.
> 
> This one is for the wonderful ines sangarinos, whose birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I just found out recently.

_Fluff...ish_

**Prompted by:**  ines sangarinos - Emma being alone most of her life knows how powerful and helpful a real, honest hug can be and when she sees Regina being heartbroken/devastated she wants to make it better, so does that one thing that believes would help and she engulfs Regina in a hug.

**Warnings/ Notes:**  None really! Takes at an indeterminable time, just fyi.

* * *

Emma saw Regina sitting forlornly by herself at Granny's, but unfortunately, she was in a hurry and so she couldn't stick around to sit and keep her company, or ask what's wrong. She quickly thanked Ruby when she was handed her order, and she rushed out to the station, because of course Storybrooke was dealing with a new potential threat, and of course Emma had to deal with it.

The perks of being a Saviour, she supposed.

After a few hours brainstorming, neither she, nor David or Mulan - the latter having recently joined the good fight as Storybrooke's newest Deputy - were capable of figuring out the new mystery. What exactly was happening? Parts of Storybrooke were noting a gravity shift that lasts a few seconds. Things float and then come crashing back down. All 5 reported cases have been contained and independent incidents, and everyone that was witness to these shifts promised to keep this under wraps. The last thing that Storybrooke needs was to panic while gravity forgets to work for a while.

"We need to call Regina," David said after another theory was shot down. He had rubbed his eyelids with the tips of his thumb and forefinger so often, it was beginning to irritate his eyes even more.

Emma remembered Regina's earlier mood, and wondered if perhaps, she wanted her space to be alone while she dealt with whatever was ailing her. But ultimately, she concluded that it wasn't up to her to decide. If Regina was having a crummy day, she would let Emma know in no uncertain terms when she called.

So she picked up her phone and made the call.

"Hey Regina, can you swing by the station?"

If Regina was sad, then she doesn't sound like it as she asked, almost bored, "What's wrong  _now_?"

"Everything's fine!" After a beat she added, "For the most part."

In the blink of an eye, the call ended, and in the next blink, Regina was standing there, looking curiously at the Storybrooke police force. "The 'most part' doesn't sound particularly reassuring, Sheriff. Care to elaborate?"

So they explained, taking turns, seeing as Regina looked more puzzled the further they get into the story; by the end of it, Mulan asked, "Do you know of anything that could be causing this?"

"None, but I can research. Why haven't you asked Belle about this? I'm sure she might know more..."

David responded, "We think this case is best kept under wraps. The less people that know the better."

Regina rolled her eyes. "I think that this is going to be as easy to keep under wraps as keeping a rampaging bull from breaking anything in a china shop, but very well. If there's nothing else?"

"Uh yeah," Emma spoke up, seeing the woman underneath the protecting walls of carefully placed barbs and quips, and deciding to take action. "Follow me."

So Regina did as requested of her, and followed Emma out into the hallway. As soon as they were alone, she asked, "What is it? Is-"

She was interrupted by the shock that came with Emma's arms engulfing her in a tight hug. Regina stiffened and didn't react, and after a few seconds, she asked, "Ms. Swan, might I ask what exactly you're doing?"

"You seem down, so I'm giving you a hug," Emma answered, not budging. After a few more seconds where Regina stood stiff as a board with her arms at her sides and Emma hugged her tightly, she let go, and gave a wan smile before heading back to the bullpen, leaving a baffled Regina to gather her thoughts in order to clear her mind and teleport herself while she tried to not wonder why Emma Swan of all people would be giving her comfort.

A hug wasn't that strange of a concept she supposed; Regina and Emma had been friends for quite a while now, and their alliance as being Henry's mothers and allies against Storybrooke's many villains du jour meant that the barbs were now only in jest and not acerbic. She supposed that friends showed such signs of affection for comfort, as well.

And if she was being truly honest, it felt good.

* * *

"So, I don't suppose you'll tell me what's been bugging you, right?"

They were sitting in Regina's office, Emma having brought her lunch as she did at least once a week. They talked of Henry, the gravity problem, the weather. Essentially: mundane topics meant to fill the silence. To talk about feelings made Regina frown.

"Nothing has been 'bugging me', Emma."

Emma sighed. "Unless you're trying to test for the billionth time to see if you can fool my lie detector, try again Regina. You know you can talk to me, it's what friends do."

What was Regina going to say? That she was desperately pining for a fairytale happy ending that she'd never get? The author search had been a bust, and while she supposed that she was happier now than she had been in years - with Henry in her life, not having to fight the Charmings, and Emma...well, she was around, that was all that Regina was willing to admit to herself - she still craved more. "I suppose I've just been introspecting."

It wasn't a lie, so it didn't ping Emma's detector. And Emma wasn't going to push to force the Mayor to talk about her feelings. She knows she wouldn't appreciate it if anyone tried it, so she respected the vague answer.

That was as far as their conversation went before Emma's phone started buzzing. Picking it up, Emma's face grew serious. After letting the person on the other end of the line know she'd be there in a second, she hung up and then looked to Regina with a determined expression. "Come on."

Regina felt that she was missing a crucial piece of information. "Where?"

Emma stood up and deposited her lunch container - previously resting on her legs - on top of Regina's desk. "Davis Road, another gravity incident."

Before Regina could even contemplate asking why she was needed, or anything for that matter, white smoke enveloped her. When the smoke cleared, she felt strong arms grab her own. As she had been sitting, and the teleportation meant that the chair was no longer there, she would have planted on her backside onto the hard ground if Emma hadn't thought ahead. Pulling her up standing, the two women looked around as people, cars, and plants and other miscellaneous items were all floating in the sky.

"Whoa, this is so weird." Approaching the nearest person, Emma looked up and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Sheriff Swan! You have to try this, it's out of this world! I feel invincible!" The man, who was floating at least 6 feet into the air, gave a giddy laugh and then somersaulted in the air, leaving Emma baffled.

She briefly felt Regina approach her, and she turned to face the brunette. "Okay, any working theories would be great right about now. He seems like he's jacked on something, is there some kind of magical helium mixed in with euphoric drugs or something?"

Regina's eyes widened. It made sense as to why everything was floating, and the happiness everyone was experiencing around them. "Fairy dust. It makes you fly and be extremely content. I'm not sure how this was achieved though..."

Emma frowned. "Wait, I thought it was  _pixie_  dust that made you fly?" She decided it was in her best interest to not mention that she was basing this from her knowledge of Disney's Peter Pan, and that their adventures in Neverland with the real Pan was best forgotten.

With a shake of her head, Regina said, "No, it's fairy dust. I've used it once before..."

That's where the explanation ended, and Emma was sure she wasn't going to be able to coax it out of the stoic brunette so easily. Tack it up as another topic to broach. Maybe another time, after a good number of shots. "Okay, fairy dust. How long does it last?"

"I'm not sure. It depends on how much they used." Regina moved her hands around casting a spell, and then frowned. "There doesn't seem to be any dust lying around here."

At Emma's blank look, Regina expanded on her explanation. "For this to happen, fairy dust needs to be sprinkled onto the person or object. Just like sprinkling something regular such as flour, not everything falls just on the person. There should be some dust detritus that would've fallen to the ground, but my magic's not detecting anything. not to mention that the amount of dust needed to get all of this up off the ground is probably more than what this town has accumulated in the past number of years."

This was looking stranger by the second, and Emma looked up when she saw a child whiz past them. They both whipped around to follow the kid with their eyes, and Regina noted, "The dust is running out."

Indeed the child was once more headed their way, but their altitude was lowering significantly, and not from his own volition, so when the kid was at arm's length away, Regina reached out to grab him, a few seconds before the ground shook beneath them as if an elephant had landed, but was actually all the floating objects and people also landing, some more gracefully than others. Car alarms began to beep at the impact, creating a cacophony of sound.

Emma was already on the phone with her deputies, instructing them to get down there and to help with cleaning up, as well as to calm down the people affected and to talk to them. "Come on," she said after hanging up the phone. "We're going to be visiting the fairies. They have the fairy dust supply in this town."

* * *

10 minutes later they were ushered into Blue's office. "Good afternoon ladies, how may I help you?"

Neither woman was particularly enjoying coming here. In Regina's case, she knew Blue still hated her, and was absolutely set in her opinion to the point where she'd no longer budge, no matter how many times Regina proved that she was no longer the Evil Queen, or how many people validated Regina's change.

For Emma, she was tired of the fairy's seemingly fishy and cryptic messages, not to mention her harsh treatment of Regina due to her prejudice. If there was one thing the Saviour was known for - apart from saving Storybrooke countless of times from whatever disaster struck them at a specific time - was her intense devotion to protecting and defending Regina. Ergo, it wasn't surprising that she wouldn't be a fan of Blue.

"Your supply of fairy dust, where is it?" Emma didn't beat around the bush.

Blue frowned for a fraction of a second, and glanced cautiously at Regina - probably wondering why she should share that particular tidbit of information to the Evil Queen - before responding, "In the basement of the convent, under strict supervision, why?"

Once again Emma took charge, and Regina didn't mind. The less that she has to deal or even converse with the moth, the better. "Has any of it gone missing or are you aware if there was a theft?"

The fairy's frown deepened as she shook her head. "Not that I know of, but I can ask the fairies and see if they know anything. The convent is always busy, and it's hard for me to stay on top of things, I can't know everything that's going on."

To Emma, it sounded like Blue was trying to heighten her importance as if she was a busy woman at the centre of everything. "Right, well, you do that, and let us know. Incidentally, do you know of any other places where we might find large quantities of fairy dust?"

At the negative answer, Regina and Emma left. Once they were outside, Regina released the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Are you okay?"

Regina nodded stiffly. "Just fine."

Not convinced with her answer, Emma gave Regina a firm one-armed hug, one that Regina instinctively leant into until she realized whose shoulder she was actually resting her head on. Then, like a woman possessed, she jumped away from Emma's embrace and teleported herself, leaving Emma alone on the steps outside the convent. But Emma wasn't going down without a fight.

Stepping over to where purple smoke still lingered, Emma called up her magic to transport her to wherever Regina had taken herself.

Regina, for her part, nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Emma materializing into her office. "Ms. Swan, what the  _hell_  are you doing here?"

"Back to Ms. Swan now?" Emma asked with a smirk, and when she saw that Regina was still expecting an answer to her question, she added, "You left abruptly, and I wanted to make sure you're alright."

"Of course I'm alright, why wouldn't I be?" Regina briskly asked, confused.

Emma sighed, because getting Regina to open up about her feelings was like pulling teeth without anaesthetic. Painful and arduous. "Because I know you Regina. Your first instinct is to leave and be alone. But I'm your friend, you can talk to me. Is it the fairies?"

Regina shook her head. "No more than usual."

It was clear Emma wasn't going to get a straightforward answer, but before anything could be said, Emma's phone was buzzing. She answered it, and after a few seconds of talking to someone on the other end, she hung up and turned back to Regina, who was silently asking her to explain who had called. "I need to meet with Belle, she says it's urgent. If you want, I can swing by your house tonight, and we can talk?"

Although she doubted she would actually admit what was wrong - maybe after many drinks she would be a bit more inclined to share some vague facts - she nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Henry was going to be staying over at a friend's, so it'll be just us tonight."

Emma nodded, somewhat glad that she'd be able to have Regina all to herself. She loved Henry a lot, but it wasn't easy to have a deep conversation when the kid could interrupt at any moment. Plus she enjoyed having Regina's undivided attention, it made her yearn for becoming a family with her, and having late nights in bed talking about anything and everything. Yes Emma Swan was desperately in love with Regina Mills, but she was resigned in believing that nothing would come from it. Regina had been insistently searching for her happy ending while Emma was right there beside her, and never considered for a second that Emma might be it, so clearly her feelings were one sided. So she settled for friends.

* * *

"Hey Belle, you sounded pretty worried on the phone, is something wrong?" Emma asked, entering the library and glancing at her friend.

Belle nodded, making her way around the counter without saying a word, and Emma followed. They went up the stairs to what Emma recognized had unofficially become the Storybrooke Museum underneath the clock tower. Some parts of it were fake town history, but there were also souvenirs of the various adventures the town has had against the numerous villains that visited Storybrooke.

"I discovered today that something went missing from here," Belle began, clasping her hands nervously in front of her, coming to a stop in the middle of the octagonal room, looking at Emma.

Emma looked around at the various vitrines and displays, seeing nothing amiss. As she was about to point out just that, Belle added, "I put something else in its place so nothing looked amiss."

"Okay, and why is that object important enough to get you so worked up?" Emma asked, knowing that, if Belle was worried, she should be  _very_  worried.

"It's a map of Storybrooke." Seeing Emma's question forming, Belle continued, "It's a special map. It's magical."

A magical map was new, but she had honestly heard so many wild and crazy stories and plots by this point, that Emma just looked unimpressed. "And if it falls into the wrong hands it does what? Implode the town, cause us to lose our memories, or what fresh hell will come out of a portal?"

Belle's lips quivered in amusement before she shook her head. "Imagine the map like a voodoo doll. You know the kind where you put a pin on it and it hurts the actual person?"

Emma gulped and nodded, that couldn't lead to anything good.

"Well essentially, it's the same thing. I'm not too sure how it works, but I was told that if you poured a glass of water over a certain area, it'd make the actual place rain. It was used as a map by this vengeful and immature person in the Enchanted Forest, but apparently it got turned to a map of Storybrooke when we came here."

"And why, pray tell, would you have such a dangerous object out in the open?" Emma asked.

Belle looked sheepish as she responded, "Hiding in plain sight you know."

An understandable, but very dangerous, notion. "And it went missing today?"

"Not really. It could have been stolen anytime this week. Tuesday was the last time there was anyone in here: high schoolers on a field trip. It's not that popular of a place so I don't check it often. Only today I went to open because there's going to be a class visiting in a bit, and I saw it was gone."

As if the gravity shift wasn't bad enough, now she had to catch a thief with a very dangerous map...Emma then got a theory. "So it's contained? You pour water on a single area, and the rest of the town is unaffected?"

The librarian nodded. "Precisely."

"What would happen if...say, fairy dust were to be dropped on it. Would that cause gravity fluctuations?"

Belle frowned, it was too specific to be a vague concept. "Gravity fluctuations? I get the feeling we're not talking hypotheticals. What's happening now?"

So Emma explained the gravity situation, how Regina theorized that this was caused by fairy dust, even though they could find no trace of it on the ground.

"And you think it's being caused by this map?" Belle asked once Emma finished explaining.

Emma shrugged. "Well in this town there's no such thing as coincidence, and it'd make sense! Map is stolen, whoever took it started pouring fairy dust on it, and it's making parts of Storybrooke experience the gravity fluctuations."

If she had to be honest, Emma felt pretty confident in her mystery-solving skills right about then.

"That might make sense, but where would they be getting all of that dust though? Don't the fairies keep it locked in some remote corner of the convent?" Belle asked.

Emma made a face, scrunching her nose. "Well yeah, but I figure that this town isn't really known for its high tech security," - she made a pointed glare at the room to prove her point - "so spiriting away a large bag of fairy dust from some fairies wouldn't be too far-fetched."

Belle was pondering, so Emma asked, "How many people know about this map, Belle?"

The librarian got to thinking for a minute and then said, "Only me and...well,  _him_. He was the one that told me about the map in the first place."

Emma nodded, understanding. Her ex was a touchy subject for her. "So how do you suppose someone figured out what the map does?"

"I mean, if you poke around it long enough, I suppose you could figure it out quite easily what it did. It'd cause a lot of cataclysms if it's trial and error, and guessing by the fact that nothing like that happened, whoever took it knows what it is."

* * *

When Emma turned onto Mifflin Street, the last thing she expected was to see everything floating. Great, another incident. She drove carefully and parked her car on the nearest section of empty parking space by the curb that wasn't taken up by a floating car. She got out and called for backup. Then she headed towards Regina's house.

After finding the extra key by the ficus floating a few feet in the air - she'd been entrusted with the knowledge of its location a few years ago, and it made her beyond giddy to be included - she entered and found herself transported to an alternate dimension.

Well okay, that might be an exaggeration, but not by much. Emma barely had her wits about her to close the door, seeing what was sure something she'd never see again. Regina Mills, flying with as much enthusiasm as that little boy from earlier today. She was even giggling.

"Regina?"

"Emma!" Regina dipped her body forward to fly towards Emma. Before she could react, Regina was reaching for her hands and clasped one hand in each of her own and began to pull. "This is amazing! You have to try flying!"

Emma chuckled and held fast to Regina's hands. "I can't fly, no dust."

Regina got a cute frown to cross her face before she got an idea. "Flying carpet! Come on!"

Next thing she knew, Emma was being led up the short steps by a very enthusiastic Mayor, and she pulled her towards a carpet that was floating at around Emma's waist level. "Come on, get on it!"

With a few minutes of complicated manoeuvring, she got on top of the carpet. It was now probably a few inches lower due to her weight pushing down on the fabric, but she was now eye-level to Regina. Suddenly, she felt herself sinking a bit more, and realized that the dust must be wearing off. She tried to let Regina know about this fact, but Regina was humming along to some music that only she could hear.

When the dust magic had worn off, Emma had her arms firmly keeping the Mayor in a semi-vertical position by slipping them underneath Regina's arms. A loud crash resounded throughout the house as plenty of delicate objects broke on impact when landing.

"We'll fix it all with the restorer potion later," Emma smiled sheepishly. That was something that Regina and Tink had developed in a recent collaboration. Since the town went through calamities like some people went through clothes, a potion had been created to restore broken and damaged objects to their previous whole state.

What seemed like a very soft sob permeated the air, and Emma frowned. Helping Regina to stand up properly, she put her hands on the Mayor's upper arms, just below her shoulder, and looked intently at her. "Are you okay?"

Regina seemed to compose herself right then. It was like seeing an instant makeover. Gone was a confused, and seemingly small Regina, and she was back to looking like a Mayor on her way to a day at work: composed and emotionless. "I'm just fine, the fairy dust has a tendency to leave its users discombobulated for a bit."

Emma didn't believe that for a second, so she went to her go-to reaction, a hug. During her time as a foster child, she had found out that a hug was the most important thing to give and receive. It was comforting, and for Emma, it always gave her the feeling of safety, and assured her that someone did care, and that things would get better, despite the grim circumstances. So it made sense to her to give her friends and loved ones that same comfort.

This time though, Regina didn't fight it, and Emma felt Regina's fingers gently claw her jacket as she held Emma closer to her.

"I felt happy." It took Emma a second to comprehend Regina's muffled sentence from where she was resting her head on the crook of Emma's neck. "Like everything would work out, that I'd get...my happy ending."

So that's what this was about. Emma rubbed her hands soothingly down Regina's back and said, "I know the author search went nowhere but we'll find your happy ending. Someone out there is in love with you, we just have to find them."

Regina chuckled and broke away from the embrace with a shake of her head. "The problem isn't finding them. I  _know_  who I want my happy ending to be, I'm just not sure I'm theirs, or that they even want me."

Emma gave a soft snort of amusement. "Oh come on Regina, who wouldn't want you?"

Levelling her with a glare, Regina deadpanned, "The town full of people I've cursed and wronged?"

Unfortunately, Regina was still skeptical that everyone would forgive her, or has already.

"Hey," Emma started, putting her hands once again on Regina's shoulders, "You are an amazing person all around, and I could sing your praises from here till kingdom come if you want, but the bottom line is, anyone would be lucky to have you."

At that moment, Regina was fully prepared to admit her feelings to the woman in front of her. She worked up the courage and took a deep breath. Just as she opened her mouth, Emma's phone began to buzz, once more having terrible timing. She closed her mouth and let out a long-suffering sigh, one that wasn't missed by Emma as she let go of Regina's shoulders, held up a finger signalling to give her a minute, and she grabbed her cellphone from her pocket and frowned at Regina's strange reaction before answering.

Once again, duty was calling. "Sorry, Blue called, wants me to go there. But I promise I'll come back, and we can figure out how you can tell your crush that you like them, okay?"

Regina could summarize her feelings for Emma Swan with various names: her happy ending, a chance to open her heart, her eventual death due to stupidity via the Charming genes, but never a crush. She wasn't a teenager, and made sure Emma knew her exact feelings on that.

"Alright got it, your Majesty, you're not a fan of the word crush. But I promise we'll talk about it later, okay?" Emma finished with a grin and a quick hug before leaving.

* * *

Emma arrived at the convent and was immediately led to the sleeping quarters of the convent. Apart from the fairies, the town had gathered a handful of orphans who now resided there. Emma had appointed herself as the unofficial guardian for the 20 or so children who, due to various circumstances, were without parents and proper homes. The convent had been chosen as the ideal place to house them since Emma couldn't very well find the time to keep an eye on them at all times, where the otherwise free fairies - and part time nuns - could fill that role much better. Emma wasn't that keen to put them under the guard of Blue, but she swallowed her complaints. She was just happy that she could help to take care of these kids, and ensure that none of them would ever feel like she had.

Of course, they still broke rules and pranked each other, so it wasn't exactly an easy task. She saw her destination already had a fair crowd of fairies, and a few curious children peeking out from their doors.

"What's this about?" Emma asked Blue, who looked relatively peeved at the situation.

"Some of the fairies have kindly confessed that they might have allowed some dalliances with the Lost Boys to distract them while they were guarding the dust," Blue explained, turning to glare at some of the fairies, who looked very abashed. It was a difficult situation for them, their conversion to nuns due to the curse was not everyone's cup of tea. Some fairies were just fine with the change, but others renounced the religious side so that they could be free. They still resided in the convent, but did their own business outside of the religious building.

Emma sighed. The Lost Boys, why wasn't she surprised. They were the #1 troublemakers of Storybrooke. Storming past the fairies, she barged into the room where the raucous teens resided. If she wasn't in Tough Sheriff mode, she'd have laughed at their expressions.

They were all staring at her as if she had grown 2 more heads, their eyes comically wide, mouths gaping. Emma stared back at the 6 pair of eyes, and crossed her arms. "So, gentlemen, would someone care to explain what is it you guys have been up to lately, and why it involves fairy dust?"

6 identical gulps were heard, and Emma added, uncrossing her arms and smiling a bit, "Oh come on, don't tell me you're all suddenly shy. Now, who wants to step up to the plate and spill?"

One of the younger boys, named Nibs, stood up and scuffed his shoe on the floor. "We didn't mean to cause any trouble, Emma, we swear! We...were just bored, and we found Pan's map and we decided to have a little bit of fun!"

Slightly, who was older, glared at the back of Nibs' head, but stayed silent. The boys were a mixed plate of ruffians. Some were still homesick for Neverland, nostalgic for the time without rules or a bedtime, and the others were adjusting nicely.

"Pan's map?" Belle had mentioned an immature and vengeful person.

Nibs nodded. "That's right. He had the map at one time and then traded it with Hook as payment. It changes depending on your location, you see, and Slightly saw it the other day while they were on a trip-"

"Will you shut your pie hole Nibs! You're gonna get us all into trouble!" Slightly exclaimed, grabbing Nibs roughly by the scruff of his shirt.

"Whoa!" Emma stepped in, pushing the two boys away from each other. "Simmer down there, the most you boys will get is community service, since no one was hurt. Now, how about we just sit down and talk, that sound good?"

Everyone agreed, even Slightly reluctantly did. Eventually Emma found out that they were just trying to alleviate the boredom by pranking on the town, figuring that it'd be fun to pour fairy dust. They got a stern talking to, as well as a summoning to be at the Sheriff's station after school for the start of their community service term. She confiscated the map, and returned the remaining dust to the fairies.

She returned the map to Belle, who thanked her profusely and promised to keep a more watchful eye on the map. Now, she had a Queen to talk to.

* * *

"Well, gravity problem is solved. Turns out the Lost Boys were bored. Now they'll be fighting the boredom helping to clean up the town," Emma announced as soon as Regina opened the door and allowed her to enter.

"Good, I don't think this town would've been too happy if it had been someone more dangerous causing this. How did they do it anyway?"

So Emma explained, leaving Regina's eyes wide. "A magic map? That's new."

"That's what I said! Now that that's taken care of, let's talk about your happy ending," Emma wasn't going to give Regina a chance to back away, because she could tell Regina wanted to talk, she just needed some friendly coaxing.

They went to go prepare dinner, Regina having somehow managed to fix most of her house up while Emma was out, and had the kitchen once more spotless. Emma had long talked Regina out of cooking alone when she went over. She insisted on cooking with her, once claiming "I have to learn sometime, I don't exactly want to burn everything."

"Perhaps it's not such a great idea. What I have right now with Henry...it works, and I shouldn't be tempting fate. I've already been lucky enough to get what I did despite my previous title as evil," Regina started, cutting up vegetables.

Emma sighed, taking out some ingredients from the fridge and closing it with her hip, "Oh come on Regina, you deserve a happy ending just as much as everyone."

"Why didn't you ever get your happy ending?" Regina suddenly asked, eyeing her curiously. "You're the epitome of good, despite your parents' faults, you should be one of the first people to receive her happy ending."

She shrugged in response, and said, "I don't know, this whole happy ending thing seems so daunting and finite. I'm more of a 'try as you go' type of girl."

Regina nodded, it made sense, especially having grown up in a world like this one, rather than the Enchanted Forest.

"But we're talking about  _you_ , you have set your eyes on someone, and I want to know who so I can help you. And I'm sure Henry will be down for it too, you know he loves helping you. Pretty sure my parents won't oppose to helping either."

Regina began laughing then, trying to imagine how the Charmings would react to her dating their daughter. Emma frowned a bit at the spontaneous reaction, but was happy that she made Regina laugh. Figuring what Regina was laughing about, she added, "Oh come on, my parents would love to help, don't count them out. I know you guys have had your spats in the past, but my mom is a firm supporter of you now."

"I'm sure that once they find out who it is, they won't be so supportive," Regina cryptically responded with a chuckle.

That got Emma curious. Who could it be? "Any chances you tell me why?"

She gave a noncommittal hum in response. "No matter, but I do have to ask, what is it with you and hugs lately? Do you get a commission from them like your mother does with the hope speeches?"

Emma gave Regina an unimpressed look and then shook her head, saying, "Nothing like that. I guess I just learned as a kid that the world is a nasty place, especially with some foster parents and siblings. But other kids in the system, we were all in solidarity, so we helped each other. The older kids took care of the younger kids, giving advice, telling stories, and playing with them to distract them from everything. But the most important thing was a hug. It made a difference sometimes from a bad day to make it a good one. And since you've been down lately, I thought you could use a hug."

Regina's heart clenched at Emma's story, but she smiled knowing that Emma hadn't been completely alone in those years. She nodded before saying, "Thank you...for the hugs, I mean, they are...nice."

Despite the lack of eloquence from Regina - uncharacteristic as it may be - Emma got the message, and went to give Regina another hug. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma as well, giving her a hug too. They moved apart a few minutes later, but still stayed close enough to be within each other's personal space. "Hey, I'm still standing by what I said. You deserve your happy ending, and if you have someone that you think will be it for you, I'll help you out as best as I can. All you have to do is say the word."

To this day, Regina's not sure what gave her the burst of confidence, maybe Emma's words sparked a sense of determination in her, and next thing she knew, she grabbed Emma's jacket lapels and pulled her in for a kiss.

Emma was shocked still for a total of 2 seconds before she relaxed and smiled into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Regina's waist and pulling the other woman to her. Once they broke apart needing air, they both smiled, both understanding that their feelings were mutual, and that they would have plenty to talk regarding their changing relationship.

But now, Emma just pulled Regina back into a hug, conveying all that words couldn't.

From then on in, there would be plenty more hugs, but Regina never stiffened or resisted one. Because Emma's words rang true: It made a big difference. And the comfort of being in Emma's arms always reminded her that she was loved unconditionally.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the end of this drabble! I hope it was enjoyable!
> 
> It kinda ran away from me because, if you haven't noticed yet, I like my plots to be very complex. Probably more than they have to. To the point where it ends up being more than 6,500 words.
> 
> Also I have no idea why my brain was trying to write this in the present tense, so if there are any changes in tense, it's my bad.
> 
> Anyway! Next up to be updated will be shifted a bit, I'll be updating Her Stable Girl first, and then Date in the Name of the Law.
> 
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also I've been completely baffled that I've got 2 fics [well 1 fic and 1 one-shot] nominated in the SQ Fan Awards!


End file.
